A Wichita, Kansas native, Sanders attended Wichita North High School.[4] Sanders started at tailback his sophomore year, but took a back seat to his brother Byron the following year. Sanders did not become the starting running back until the fourth game of his senior year. He rushed for 1,417 yards in the final seven games of the season, which earned him all-state honors. During that seven-game span, Sanders averaged 10.2 yards per carry, but he was overlooked by most college recruiters. Although he was a stellar athlete, Sanders received scholarship offers from only Emporia State, Tulsa, and Oklahoma State.[5]

Sanders played for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 1986 to 1988, and wore the #21. During his first two years, he backed up All-AmericanThurman Thomas. In 1987, he led the nation in yards per kickoff return (31.6), while also rushing for over 600 yards and scoring 8 touchdowns. Thomas moved on to the NFL, and Sanders became the starter for his junior year.

In 1988, in what has been called the greatest individual season in college football history,[6] Sanders led the nation by averaging 7.6 yards per carry and over 200 yards per game, including rushing for over 300 yards in four games. Despite his massive workload of 344 carries, Sanders was still used as the team's punt and kickoff returner, adding another 516 yards on special teams. He set college football season records with 2,628 yards rushing, 3,248 total yards, 234 points, 39 touchdowns, 37 rushing touchdowns, 5 consecutive 200 yard games, scored at least 2 touchdowns in 11 consecutive games, and 9 times he scored at least 3 touchdowns. Sanders also ran for 222 yards and scored 5 touchdowns in his three quarters of action in the 1988 Holiday Bowl, a game that is not included in the official NCAA season statistics.[7] Sanders learned of his Heisman Trophy win while he was with the team in Tokyo, Japan preparing to face Texas Tech in the Coca-Cola Classic.[8] He chose to leave Oklahoma State before his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

The Detroit Lions selected Sanders with the 3rd overall pick in the 1989 Draft,[4] thanks to the endorsement of then-coach Wayne Fontes. The Lions' management considered drafting another Sanders, cornerback Deion Sanders, but Fontes convinced them to draft Barry Sanders instead. He was offered #20, which had been worn by former Lions greats Lem Barney and Billy Sims; Sims was one of the league's best running backs in the early 1980s, and Fontes had requested Sanders to wear the number in tribute to Sims.[9]

Though there were concerns about his size, it turned out these concerns were unfounded. Sanders was far too quick for defenders to hit solidly on a consistent basis, and too strong to bring down with arm tackles. Though short at 5'8", his playing weight was 203 lb (91 kg) and Sanders had a large portion of this weight in his exceptionally large and muscular legs, which provided him with excellent acceleration and a very low center of mass; his weight was also the same as Walter Payton and only slightly under the NFL average for a back.

In contrast to many of the star players of his era, Sanders was also noted for his on-field humility. Despite his flashy playing style, Sanders was rarely seen celebrating after the whistle was blown. Instead, he preferred to hand the ball to a referee or congratulate his teammates.

In 1989, Sanders missed his rookie year training camp due to a contract dispute. He ran for eighteen yards his first carry during the regular season,[4] and scored a touchdown on his fourth. He finished the season second in the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns after declining to go back into the regular season finale just 10 yards shy of the rushing title (later won by Christian Okoye), and won the Rookie of the Year Award.[10]

Barry was the featured running back on the Lion teams that made the playoffs five times during the 1990s (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997). He was a member of the 1991 and 1993 squads that won the NFC Central division title; the 1991 team won 12 regular season games (a franchise record).

In 1994, Sanders rushed for 1,883 yards, on a 5.7 yards per carry average. He also totaled 283 receiving yards, which gave him a combined 2,166 yards from scrimmage for the season. He was named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year. In 1995, Sanders posted 1,500 yards rushing with 398 receiving yards, beating his rushing total alone of the '94 season. In 1996, Sanders rushed for 1,553 yards with a career-low 147 receiving yards.

Sanders' greatest season came in 1997 when he became a member of the 2000 rushing yards club. After a start in which he gained 53 yards on 25 carries in the first two games of the season, Sanders ran for an NFL record 14 consecutive 100 yard games, including two 200 yard performances, en route to rushing for 2,053 yards. In reaching the 2,000 yard plateau, he became only the third player to do so in a single season and the first since O. J. Simpson to rush for 2,000 yards in a span of 14 consecutive games. He was the first running back to rush for 1,500 yards in five seasons and the only one to do it four consecutive years. At the end of the season, Sanders shared the Associated Press's NFL Most Valuable Player Award with Green Bay QB Brett Favre.

Week

Team

Carries

Yards

Average

1

ATL

15

33

2.2

2

TB

10

20

2.0

3

at CHI

19

161

8.5

4

at NO

18

113

6.3

5

GB

28

139

5.0

6

at BUF

25

107

4.3

7

at TB

24

215

9.0

8

NYG

24

105

4.4

9

at GB

23

105

4.6

10

at WAS

15

105

7.0

11

MIN

19

108

5.7

12

IND

24

216

9.0

13

CHI

19

167

8.8

14

at MIA

30

137

4.6

15

at MIN

19

138

7.3

16

NYJ

23

184

8.0

1997

TOTAL

335

2,053

6.1

In Sanders' last season in the NFL, 1998, he rushed for 1,491 yards, ending his four-year streak of rushing for over 1,500 yards in a season.

Despite his individual success, the Lions never reached the Super Bowl while Sanders was with the team.[4] The closest they came was in the 1991 season.[4] Aided by Sanders' 1,855 combined rushing/receiving yards and 17 touchdowns during the season, they recorded a 12–4 record and went on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 38–6 in the divisional playoffs, which still stands as Detroit's only playoff victory since defeating the Cleveland Browns to win the 1957 NFL Championship. The Lions lost to the Washington Redskins 41–10 in the NFC Championship Game, and Sanders was held to 59 total yards in the game.

In Sanders' career, he achieved Pro Bowl status in all of his 10 seasons.[4] Sanders was named first team All-Pro eight times from 1989–1991 and 1993–1997 and was named second team All-Pro twice in 1992 and 1998. Sanders was also named All-NFC from 1989-1992 to 1994-1997. Sanders was named Offensive Player of the Year in '94 and '97, NFL MVP in '97, and was named to the 1990s NFL All-Decade team.

"It doesn't matter where the play is blocked; he'll find his own soft spot...The scheme doesn't matter with Sanders. He can run from any alignment. While other people are stuck with joints, he seems to have ball bearings in his legs that give him a mechanical advantage...Sanders' finest runs often occur when he takes the handoff and, with a couple of moves, turns the line of scrimmage into a broken field...Nobody has ever created such turmoil at the point of attack as Sanders has...Knock on wood, he seems indestructible..."

Sanders announced he was quitting pro football. His retirement was made public by faxing a letter to the Wichita Eagle, his hometown newspaper, on July 27, 1999.[11]

He left football healthy, having gained 15,269 rushing yards, 2,921 receiving yards, and 109 touchdowns (99 rushing and 10 receiving). He retired within striking distance of Walter Payton's career rushing mark of 16,726 yards. Only Payton and Emmitt Smith have rushed for more yards than Sanders.

Sanders' retirement came somewhat unexpectedly and was a matter of controversy. Two years earlier, Sanders had renewed his contract with the Lions for $35.4 million over six years with an $11 million signing bonus. The Lions demanded that he return $5.5 million of the bonus. Sanders refused, and the Lions sued. On February 15, 2000, an arbitrator ruled that Sanders had to immediately repay $1.833 million, or one-sixth of the bonus, with the remaining bonus to be repaid over each of the three years Sanders had left on the contract provided he stayed retired. Before the ruling, Sanders offered to pay back the entire $5.5 million in return for his release from the team. The Lions refused, stating they would welcome Sanders back to the team; otherwise, they would honor his announced retirement. Sanders' agent David Ware lobbied the team to trade his client. However, it had been a long-standing practice for the Lions to not accommodate players' requests for trades, and other teams were reluctant to discuss Sanders while he was still under contract.[12]

Several years after retirement, with repeated refusals to discuss the abruptness of it, Sanders finally admitted that the culture of losing in the Lions' organization was too much to deal with, even though he said that he could still play and that Detroit had made the playoffs in five of his ten seasons. The Lions' went 5-11 in the season before his retirement. He explained that it robbed him of his competitive spirit, and he saw no reason to believe things were going to improve. When Detroit drafted quarterback Charlie Batch in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft and it became apparent that Batch would become Detroit's full-time starter the next season, Sanders seemed unwilling to embrace yet another change in the Lions' seemingly endless carousel of quarterbacks and offensive philosophies. He had also gone on record to criticize Detroit's front office (most notably Chuck Schmidt) for releasing Pro Bowl center Kevin Glover for salary cap reasons. Glover was an underrated player and close friend of Sanders. He stated there were tears in his eyes as the Lions lost in the playoffs to Tampa Bay in 1998, because he knew in his heart he was never going to play another playoff game for Detroit. "I sobbed for 3 months," Sanders said.[13] It was thought by some that Bobby Ross himself may have actually been the reason for his early retirement. Sanders, however, debunked this theory in his autobiography Barry Sanders: Now You See Him, saying that Coach Ross had nothing to do with his quitting and actually praising him as a great head coach.[citation needed]

Sanders's ex-wife, Lauren Sanders, is a news anchor for WDIV in Detroit.[19] With his ex-wife, he has three sons: Nigel, Nicholas, and Noah.[20] In February 2012, Sanders filed for divorce from his wife after 10 years of marriage.[21]

In 1997, he set an NFL record by rushing for at least 100 yards in 14 consecutive games and became only the third player to reach 2,000 yards in a single season. He shared the NFL MVP award with Brett Favre.

During the final 14 games of the 1997 season Sanders rushed for exactly 2000 yards on 310 carries (6.5 yd./carry), a figure which bears comparison with O.J. Simpson's 14-game mark of 2003 yards on 332 carries (6.0 yd./carry).

Each of his 10 years from 1989 through 1998 he was first- or second-team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl.

Over his professional football career, he rushed for at least 100 yards in 76 games, just short of Walter Payton's 77 games and Emmitt Smith's 78 games.

NFL record 25 games in which Sanders rushed for 150 yards or more. Jim Brown is second with 22 games.

NFL record 46 games in which Sanders had 150 yards from scrimmage or more. Walter Payton is second with 45.

15 career touchdown runs of 50 yards or more, most in NFL history. Jim Brown is second with 12.

At the time of his retirement, Sanders' 15,269 career rushing yards placed him second behind Walter Payton's 16,726 yards. At Sanders' then-current yearly yardage pace, he would have eclipsed Payton within one or two years. Payton died from liver cancer at age 45 just months after Sanders' sudden retirement.

His 18,190 career yards from scrimmage place him sixth on the all-time list.

His career average of 5.0 yards per rushing attempt (min. 1500 att) is second all-time for running backs. Jim Brown is first with a 5.2 career average.

His career rushing yards per game average of 99.8 yards is second in NFL history behind only Jim Brown's 104.3 yards per game.

In 1999, he was ranked number 12 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranking Lions player and the third highest ranked running back, behind Jim Brown and Walter Payton.

^Sanders, Barry; McCormick, Mark E (2003). Now you see him... his story in his own words. Introduction by John Madden. Indianapolis: B. Sanders, Inc., in conjunction with Emmis Books. ISBN1578601398. OCLC53833879.